Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections

Stockton, CA 95211

Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Wood California State Landmarks Advisory
Committee Papers, Mss151, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections,
University of the Pacific Library

Biography

Richard Coke Wood (1905-1979) was a professor of California History at
the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif. (1950-1976). During those years
he published several works on the history of the southern Motherlode, including
Calaveras,The Land of Skulls (1955) and Murphys, Queen of the Sierra (1968).
Wood also published a college textbook: CaliforniaHistory (1963). In 1965 he
was first named to the California State Landmarks Advisory Committee by Gov.
Edmund G. Brown. He was later reappointed by Gov. Ronald Reagan. Wood served as
a member of the Commission through 1976.

Commission members served without compensation for terms of four years.
They were empowered to conduct a state-wide inventory of historic sites,
including State Historical Landmarks, National Register items, and Points of
Historical Interest. They were to review applications for various types of
historic landmark status, to recommend the attributes necessary for achieving
landmark status, and to recommend to the Dept. the type of plaque and
descriptive wording to be used in marking historic sites. They were expected to
review and recommend state-wide history plans to the Dept. of Parks and
Recreation. The Commission was also charged with maintaining a record of all
archeological sites in California.

Scope and Content

Wood's committee papers consist principally of applications by various
site sponsors for placement of their sites on the National Register of Historic
Places. They are of particular interest in that they contain background and
detailed research information about little-known buildings and locales. The
papers also include applications for Registered California Landmark and Point
of Historical Interest status, as well as minutes and agendas, policy and
procedural information, and correspondence relating to the activities of the
State Landmarks Advisory Committee.